Brevity Is The Soul Of Etc.

We've Got To Run Out ...... in a few minutes to do the whole television commentator thing for this weekend's edition of "Pennsylvania Newsmakers," so we're keeping things on the brief side this morning.Big news, of course, is that the Pennsylvania State Policehave decided to go ahead with this weekend's shutdown of the computer system that handles background checks for gun-buyers. But to minimize the headaches for the only voting bloc in the state that's heavily armed, they've decided to take the system down from 6 p.m. Sunday until 6 p.m. Wednesday. State cops were originally going to keep the system off-line until noon next Thursday to do some badly needed gussying up to a computer set-up that's as old as your average Space Invaders machine.A 7-member advisory panel had considered doing the upgrade either this winter or later in September, but officials decided that would be too costly or conflict with other scheduled computer upgrades."The governor agreed this was the optimal time to update the system,'' newly official Rendell administration spokesman Chuck Ardo said.That may be true, but we're thinking about not standing too close to anyone from the administration for the next couple of weeks.The rest of today's news, which comes coated in kevlar, starts after the jump.

Pennsylvanians Mourn Their Own.Two Pennsylvania Army National Guard soldiers have been killed in an ambush near Kunar
Province in Afghanistan, state officials said late yesterday,Master Sgt. Scott R. Ball, 38, of Carlisle, Cumberland County, and Sgt. Jan M. Argonish, 26, of Scranton, are the first PA National Guard soldiers to perish in the Afghan theater. The two were on a convoy when the ambush took place early yesterday. An active-duty Army officer and two Afghan National Army soldiers were also killed in the attack, while three U.S. servicemen and seven Afghan soldiers were injured, officials said"We mourn the loss of these dedicated soldiers and our thoughts and prayers are with the families," Maj. Gen. Jessica L. Wright, the state's adjutant general, said in a statement. "These brave warriors proudly represented their commonwealth and country."Ball was an eight-year veteran of the Pennsylvania State Police, and was attached to the Troop H barracks in Carlisle. He is survived by wife, Leslie, and two children.Argonish was a corrections officer at the federal penitentiary in Waymart, Wayne County. He leaves behind an 8-year-old son, his parents and two sisters.Officials said both soldiers will be posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Combat Action Badge.Our condolences to their families, friends and colleagues.

This Reminds Us Of That Old Joke ...... about why academic disputes are so nasty.
Even though the ink's been dry on the state budget for more than a month, Gov. Ed and Senate Republicans are still trading barbs over who screwed whom in the nasty and protracted debate over the $27.5 billion spending plan.According to a report by Capitolwire, the two sides are apparently still exercised over Rendell's failure to deliver on a promise to get the state House to pass a Senate GOP proposal to fund the state's Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund. That, in turn, led Senate Republicans to balk on a promise to vote this fall on Rendell's much beloved bio-tech research program, the Jonas Salk Legacy Fund.That move is "just what's wrong with Harrisburg," Rendell complained to Capitolwire. "We should consider projects, plans and initiatives on their own merits, not trade them off -- you do this and we'll do this. That leads to bad legislation."Rendell's remarks prompted a giggle from Senate President Pro-Tem Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson."We wanted to consider each bill on its own merits," Scarnati said. "The governor refused and demanded a whole bunch of other issues be passed before he would sign a budget."There's some other stuff in the Capitolwire story about how each side accused the other of engaging in hostage tactics, but we won't burden you with it.Instead, we'll simply suggest that Rendell and Scarnati meet on the banks of the Hudson, near Hoboken, and settle this with handbags at 20 paces.

It's Official ...... as we were the first to report yesterday, long-suffering Rendell administration press guy Chuck Ardo, 61, has been formally named Gov. Ed's official spokesman.He replaces Kate Philips, 33, who's got the new title of Special Adviser to Rendell. She's now in Philadelphia, heading up projects that include the dredging of the Delaware River. And, as we observed yesterday, we hope that doesn't mean that she's now sporting a scuba suit and landscaping tools.Ardo, who's been fired by Rendell over the years more times than we care to remember, has been unofficially serving as the governor's spokesman since at least February, when Philips was loaned out to U.S. Rep. Bob Brady's unsuccessful mayoral campaign in Philly.We're frankly not sure whether to congratulate Ardo or send him a condolence note.Things Are Getting A Little Crowded In NePA.Four Republicans are vying for the right to challenge U.S. Rep. Chris Carney, D-10th, when
he runs for re-election in 2008, the mysterious 'blogger known only as Gort42 notes this morning.Their ranks include retired schoolteacher Don Ely of Northumberland County; Davis Haines of Tunkhannock; professional candidate Joe Peters of Wilkes-Barre; Christopher Hackett of Luzerne County, and someone named Dan Meuser.Gort's putting his money on Meuser to eventually win the nomination because he's well-funded. We need to do some additional research.

A U.S Marine ...... may file a libel lawsuit against U.S. Rep. John Murtha -- but first he'll have to be cleared of
charges that he failed to fully investigate the killings of 24 Iraqis in Haditha, Iraq nearly two years ago.A lawyer for Marine Col. Jeffrey Chessani tells the conservative site NewsMax that he may follow the example of another Haditha Marine, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, who's also suing the Johnstown Democrat for libel."We think Congressman Murtha abandoned his legislative role in
attacking the Marines, and so we are going to explore that," lawyer Brian Rooney told the Web site. "We're going
to take it one step at a time, but that's definitely something we're
going to do once our client is exonerated."More astute readers may recall that Murtha nabbed headlines when he jumped feet-first into the Haditha controversy, suggesting that the killings occurred in the absence of a firefight, and came in revenge for the death of a U.S. soldier.

Pennsylvanians May Be Broke ...... but at least they have decent health coverage, according to newly released U.S. Census Bureau data.Pennsylvanians have lower household incomes than most U.S. residents, number-crunchers found. But they're more likely to be above poverty levels and be insured, the Post-Gazette reports.Despite trends hinting that many households were better off in 2006 than 2005, advocates for working families say the new data raises some concerns because they say things getting better for small slices of the population, but not in the broad way they'd expected."The new figures are the latest evidence that the economic
growth of the past few years has been very uneven, with the gains
concentrated among the highest-income Americans," said Robert
Greenstein, executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities, a left-leaning research group in Washington, D.C., told the P-G.And who says the class gap isn't getting wider?In The Blogosphere:Keystone Politicson the state's weak seat-belt law; Mark Rauterkus on the 30th reunion of a Penn Hills High School class; 2 Political Junkies have some events that may interest you (or not); Bernie O'Hare went to a Pin-The-Tail on Charlie Dent party last night; Perry Christopher sends the kids back to school in style (and we agree with his assessment of "Californication"); The Liberal Doomsayer pauses to note what would have been the 90th birthday of comic book creator (and legend) Jack Kirby; I've Made A Huge Tiny Mistake on Ryan Howard; PAWatercooler takes a look at the 8th Congressional District; Above Average Jane on the redistricting game; Fact-Esque participated in Take A Stand Day yesterday; Tony Phyrillas says the new federal poverty numbers have torpedoed John Edwards' campaign (we're not so sure about that); John Ridley is feeling a touch on the omnivorous side this morning; Powerline on the revised edition of "The Israel Lobby"; Taegan Goddard has some U.S. Senate news from Alabama; The Rothenberg Report on the new chair of the Republican Governors Association; The Note on the GOP's latest batch of problems, and Fishbowl D.C. on the rantings of CNN's Jack Cafferty.On The Capitol Ideas iPod This Morning.Our truncated version of Pennsylvania Music Week continues this morning with Harrisburg, Pa.-based power-pop outfit The Jellybricks and a clip from their 2005 LP, "Power This," called "Can't Be Wrong."Again, full-disclosure: We've shared the stage with The 'Bricks a number of times over the years, and have found them to be fine fellows.

Tuesday's Gratuitous Soccer Link.We know it's still early, but we're putting our money on Liverpool to win this year's Champions League competition. We caught the replay of the Reds'absolutely dominating 4-0 qualifying round win over Toulouse last night, and were amazed by the quality of the football this team is playing.It was all Liverpool for the full 90 minutes. And in the rare instances when Toulouse actually claimed possession, it was even more rare for them to get into the Liverpool end and get off a shot. We now understand why some folks are tapping the Reds to take the English Premier League title this season.